I love this phone. Beats all of the DROIDs combined. Very smooth interface and just overall amazing.

I do have two complaints about it, mostly because of Verizon's limitations.

1) They use two networks for voice and data, EV-DO and 1X CDMA. GSM carriers use one network for both services. This allows simultaneous browsing on the internet and talking on the phone. Until I purchased the iPhone, I have always said "Why would anyone do both of these things at once"...now I see how much of an asset it could be. I contacted Verizon Wireless about this and they explained it with a dumb response (I've attached below). Of course he concluded by stating that Verizon Wireless's use of two networks gives them superior quality and fewer dropped calls and data loss compared to the competitors (typical Verizon response when complaining about the network).

2) You are unable to take advantage of some cool apps like Emoji. Emoji allows you to send cool graphics to other iPhone/iPod/iPad users. You can almost have full conversations just with Emoji. Verizon iPhone users are able to receive Emoji graphics from any iPhone on any network. Verizon Wireless customers; however, can only send Emoji graphics to other Verizon iPhone users or through email. Why, you might ask? Well...Verizon Wireless disables the ability to send UTF8 characters to anyone besides other Verizon Wireless customers...so when you send Emoji graphics to AT&T iPhone users, the AT&T person will see jumbled up letters, numbers, and symbols. My AT&T friend thought I was crazy for a bit until he explained to me what it was doing. I have contacted Verizon Wireless about this (in same email) and guess what they said...? It's the application you are using or the fault of the iPhone itself. Of course...NOTHING can ever be Verizon's fault.

My email to Verizon:

Primary Subject: Network and Coverage

Secondary Subject: Report Service Issue

Message Body: Hello,

I am a long time Verizon customer and have been enjoying your

service (with only just minor glitches). I have been through many

phones from the old LG/Samsung devices to the new DROIDs

and even the iPhone.

As I begin to get more advanced devices, I began to notice how

much the Verizon Wireless network is lacking capabilities. Now

that I have the iPhone 4, I am really complaining.

This phone is capable of so much but does so little on the

Verizon Wireless network. There is one app, emoji, that allows

people to send special images/graphics to other

iPhone/iPad/iPod users through SMS. This app works great on

AT&T. This app works great when sent from AT&T to Verizon

(the Verizon user can see the image). It may work great Verizon

to Verizon. When a Verizon Wireless iPhone user attempts to

send a message like this to an AT&T iPhone user, the message

shows up on their phone as jumbled up letters,numbers, and

symbols. Your excuse will be "it must be AT&T's network". That

will be a false claim. Verizon Wireless prohibits their customers

from sending UTF8 Characters (which emoji uses) to non-Verizon

customers. All other carriers allow this to be sent freely to

anyone, on any carrier. This has been an issue with any phone

that offered any graphics. In the past, it would send a text

message notifying you of the issue and that it could not send the

graphics...now it just sends them jumbled up.

One last problem is the inability to surf the web and use the

phone at the same time. For some reason, Verizon Wireless is

lacking here too. AT&T and T-Mobile can both do it, why not

Verizon. With a phone like the iPhone, this ability is really

convenient. This is one thing that makes AT&T and T-Mobile

appear superior. This should also be fixed (since the Verizon

voice and data networks are operated independently of each other

when using 3G.)

Please take these upgrades into consideration.

Verizon Wireless Reps Response:

Dear Nick,

My name is Larry and I am sorry to learn about the frustration with your iPhone and the applications. The issues you have described are supported by Apple or the application vendors. I am happy to show you how to report issues with iPhone applications.

From the home screen, select Settings.

Select Store.

If prompted, select Sign In.

Enter the Apple ID and password then select OK.

The Apple ID is the email address associated with the account.

Select Search then enter the name of the application.

Select the application.

Rate / Review an application

Report an Application

Rate / Review an Application

Select Ratings.

Select Write a Review.

To rate the application, select the star rating.

To submit a review, enter the review information then select Send.

From

Enter a nickname

Title

Enter title of review

Review

Enter the review

Report a Problem

Select Report a Problem.

Select the application problem.

The application has a bug

This application is offensive

My concern is not listed here

Enter a comment then select Report.

In regards to why our network does not currently include talking and browsing. The other provider uses one network for calls and data. Verizon Wireless has two networks, one for voice and one for data. Because of this, you are not currently able to access both. However, the upside is you also do not experience dropped calls or lost data as the one network has been known to do much too often.

In closing, I hope this information to contact Apple or the developers of the applications and the benefits of having separate networks for voice and data will be helpful. We appreciate your business and thank you for using Verizon Wireless. Again, my name is Larry and should you have additional questions or concerns, please reply to this email.

Sincerely,

Larry

Verizon Wireless

Internet Response Team

My reply to his email:

Larry,

This issue is NOT an app issue. It is a Verizon problem. Your company limits the ability to send UTF8 characters to non Verizon customers. This issue never bugged me to much until I got the iPhone and started using UTF8 characters and sending them to non Verizon iPhones. Use google as a resource to verify this information. I am correct.

Re: I have the iPhone 4 - Verizon

My wife got a Verizon iPhone 4 and she loves it. Honestly, the data while talking isn't a huge deal, but I imagine as the 4g network gets rolled out and the iPhone 5 comes along this will no longer be an issue. I've read that the HTC Thunderbolt will be able to do data and voice at the same time, indicating all future 4g devices will have this capability.